HYDERABAD, July 12: Renowned scholar, writer, poet and academician Dr Abdul Jabbar Junejo died of kidney failure in Karachi on Tuesday. He was 75.

He is survived by six daughters and one son.

Born on November 26, 1935, in Pir Fateh Shah Village, Badin district, in the family of Dr Sultan Ahmed Junejo, Dr Junejo received his primary education in his village and did matric from University of Sindh.

Later he did his MA in Sindhi Literature in 1962 from the university and was awarded gold medal. He did his PhD on “Influence of Persian Language on Sindhi” in 1974 and also completed diplomas in Persian and Chinese languages.

He joined Sindhi department of the Sindh University in 1962 as lecturer and retired in November 1995 as its chairman. He was also appointed as Dean of Arts Faculty and remained chairman of Sindhi Adabi Board for some time.

He authored 65 books in Sindhi, ten in Urdu and over 200 research papers.

He was considered one of the authorities on Sindhi classical music and also wrote a book with the title “Music for the soul”.

A short history of Sindhi literature in three volumes and “Latifiaat” (research work on the poetry of great Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai) are among his monumental works.

A few years ago he became diabetic and his kidneys started malfunctioning and ultimately died of kidney failure.

Writers, including Qalandar Shah Lakyari, Taj Joyo, Dr Anwar Figar Hakro, Ishaque Samejo, Dr Hidayat Prem, Azad Kazi, Prof Abdullah Mallah and Mohammed Ali Manjhi, besides a large number of admirers attended his funeral.

He was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard in Pir Fateh Shah village.